[Bldg-sim] Air leakage, LEED, and Appendix G of ASHRAE 90.1

[Andy hoover]

I take it one step further than Leonard with LEED and think ASHRAE should be
active.

 

You should not be able to get any LEED certification without meeting a
minimum provable level of air/vapor/moisture tightness and every building
should be required to undergo whole building commissioning with appropriate
testing to prove it.

 

Regarding ASHRAE, it should be a requirement that whole building
commissioning of air/vapor/moisture tightness occurs with submitted results
so that the requirement ends up in code.  Not only will this provide the
mechanism to show if buildings are meeting code requirements for
infiltration (the vast majority exceed the accepted/mandated standard) but
also will let owners compare and see how effective, therefore money saving
and what human comfort level, their structures provide compared to others.
It would be wise for ASHRAE to include provable inspection requirements so
that issues are identified as work occurs and dealt with, the whole building
commissioning/testing will only tell that you do or do not have a problem
and sometimes where the problem might be/is but not always.  

 

Lots of assemblies and components are very specified but little
inspection/testing of them once built is required let alone the entire
building envelope, which is what really counts.  So we know the assembly is
good IF it is built properly and the building envelope is good IF every
assembly is built properly and IF every assembly is integrated properly into
the whole but we do not have any requirement to show/prove it such as
inspect, commission, and/or test/measure - crazy in my opinion.

 

 

 

Andy Hoover

Principal

The BEST Consultant, Inc.

Office: 678-200-7648

Fax:678-827-0574

Cell: 678-793-1159

 

www.thebestconsultant.com

 

 

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From: Leonard Sciarra [mailto:leonard_sciarra at gensler.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 6:19 PM
To: Andy hoover; Brenda V. Morawa; Paul Carey; Paul Grahovac;
sheffer at energyopportunities.com; bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: RE: [Bldg-sim] Air leakage, LEED, and Appendix G of ASHRAE 90.1

 

If I were the USGBC and I were to give credit for air tightening/air leakage
I would simply state in the modeling rules, if you are going to take credit
you need to do whole building testing or for a large building major sections
that are representative of the work.

 

Likewise if I were submitting to the USGBC I would state that in the
rationale.  To do whole building testing, while doable is still a new
industry and the USGBC should be working towards bringing whole building
testing into the mainstream.

 

 

Leonard Sciarra 
Senior Associate 
+1 (312) 577.6580 Direct 
 

Gensler 
11 East Madison Street
Suite 300 
Chicago IL 60602 

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